For centuries before European arrival on the China coast, pirates were a noted feature of life due to Canton's regional economic importance. As trade and shipping steadily increased from the 16th century onwards, so too did pirates. While most maritime marauders in north-east Asian waters were Chinese, other ethnicities, such as the Japanese and rogue Europeans including Portuguese, Dutch, British and Americans, also periodically turned to piracy.

Well into the early twentieth century, piracy was a noted shipping hazard in Hong Kong waters and was especially prevalent in the unsettled political conditions during the 1920s. Little-remembered today, one of the most notorious pirate leaders, Macao-based Lai Choi-san, was a woman.

In this extensively illustrated lecture, we will discuss the evolution and decline of piracy on the China coast, with particular reference from the 16th to the 20th centuries and to specific well-remembered incidents.

As always, friends and partners of Mozaic members are most welcomed to join too, at a cost of HKD 630.